#buckycrank

Bucky and Crank turn an accident into something more.

"I don't think you understand--"

And Crank has held his tongue for MONTHS out of respect and "Buck is a Major," but fuck it. If he'd gotten to finish flying, he'd be a fucking Major, and it's not really that fucking hard. And he snaps out, "Shut the fuck up, Buck," then walks down the stairs and goes over to Bucky.

But instead of radiating 'concern' and 'scared' and 'i swallow my emotions,' he steps up to Bucky without hesitation and says, "Which game are we in?"

And Bucky turns, wanting to get yelled at. Waiting to get yelled at. Or scolded at least. But Crank's sitting there with his hands in his jacket pockets looking interested, not worried.

"What?" he asks.

"What game are we in?" Crank repeats. "My mother can list off every series by heart, but I'm not quite as good. Which game are we in?"

"...your mom follows baseball?" Bucky asks because he's so confused by this casual and comfortable reaction that he wasn't expecting a regular question.

"Loves it. She swears she's more Catholic than baseball fan, but Dad says that's not always true," Crank replies. "So, which game? How many guys we need?"

"...guys?"

"I'm sure we can get a bunch together to re-enact the game," Crank replies, and yes, his heart is thumping like it's about to explode, but Bucky's eyes are sharper than they have been for a few days. His body is relaxing. He looks less like he'd throw himself at the fence if someone even suggested it as a joke. "So, we need two full teams or just whoever's in the announcements?"

And Bucky sort of stutters out how many he needs, and Crank gets the boys together, and they all give him an uncertain look (except Ham, who has proven absolutely unshakeable, and god, Crank is so glad for him), and then all the boys re-enact every single thing Bucky says, and by the end of it, Bucky looks like he's really in the here and now, and Buck's come out to watch but not participate (Crank refuses to work on that particular knot; he's not a fucking miracle worker), and as the sun starts to go down, Bucky calls game and throws an arm around Crank's shoulder and gives him a shake. Crank thumps Bucky on the back and leans in close.

"When you get like that again, try to tell me before you wander outside, okay?"

And Bucky relaxes all over and taps their heads together. "I'll try," he says. "Sorry if you get tired following after me."

"Couldn't get tired of you," Crank says, the words slipping out without thought. "Like you too much."

Bucky doesn't respond. Crank sits next to him for awhile, anyway. Rests the fort on his knee.

A couple days later, Crank sits down again. Holds up the fort again. "Where we going today?" he asks.

Bucky throws the fort into the mud.

Crank stands up and picks it up and brings it back. Sits down again. Turns the fort over so Bucky can see all the mud on it. "Better landing than Brady getting to England."

Bucky doesn't say anything, but for a moment, there's that long-missed spark in his eyes.

Next day, Crank sits down again. Holds out the fort. Bucky takes it and rubs his thumbs over the wings. "Where we going today?" Crank asks.

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Don't wanna be here," Crank says. "Me neither. Let's go somewhere else."

Bucky looks at the fence. Crank watches him look. Bucky looks back down at the plane. He keeps rubbing his thumbs on the wings.

Crank sits down the next day. Bucky passes him his lit cigarette. They share it, the fort between them on the steps.

"Think I'm going crazy," Bucky says a few days later. A few more sits on the steps. He's holding the fort again, staring at the nose of it.

"So, that's where we're going," Crank replies.

Bucky stares, then he laughs. Broken and wet and much too short. But it's a laugh. "Shouldn't stay too close to me, Crank. It might be catching."

Crank shrugs. "I'll take my chances," he says.

Then it broke 5k before dinner.

Then it broke 8k after dinner.

And I meant to go to bed an hour ago, and it's 12.8k as I make myself stop and go to bed now.

So, um. Yeah. This idea clearly had legs.

You will get it whenever a) I finish it and b) my beta reviews it.

And Bucky tries to lunge for him, but Crank sidesteps and kicks him in the ass and says, "There's no martyrs here, you fucking Catholic. Just tired fucking men."

And Bucky squints hard and says, "You're Catholic, too."

"Not like you," Crank replies. Because, yeah, they're both Catholic, but Crank believes in God more than Catholicism and Bucky swears he's lapsed but never takes off his rosary.

And John wants to snarl and fight and push Crank's face into the mud, but Crank's frown makes something spark in him that makes him feel alive for the first time since he got there, and he drops flat out into the mud and makes a mud-angel.

Crank just rolls his eyes and kicks up a spray of dirty water and says, "I'll see you in the library in ten minutes. There's some guys who wanna learn grammar."

And John shows up to help because he's actually very good at grammar, and at the end of the day, when he gets Crank in a one-armed hug and says, "Hey, thanks," Crank thumps him on the back and says, "Yeah, of course."

(Stalag timeline but what if Crank can see Bucky needs a different kind of friend)

It rains for a week. Everyone gets antsy and a little mean. Crank and Brady end up in a yelling match over a chess move. Buck steps between them. "Crank, library. Brady, bunk."

Crank almost snarls at him. Wants to point out Buck's not in charge, not really. There's a hot, angry spot in his chest that wants to turn into a whip and hurt someone. Crank stomps to the library to try and let it out somehow. 

He sits in the corner and stares at the wall and wants to knock every book off the shelves. Break the windows and throw the chairs and punch a guard or two. 

The library door opens, and Crank expects Buck to come in and scold him. Instead, it's Bucky, and that makes Crank's anger worse. "I don't need a fucking lecture," he says. 

Bucky shuts the door and walks over. He sits in the chair next to Crank. "Don't have one in me," he says. "Just thought you might not want to be alone."

Crank drops his head in his hands and squeezes his eyes shut. "I don't know," he says. "I want…" he shakes his head hard. "We're all cooped up, but it feels like no one's really here." He presses his palms against his eyes. "Is this what it's like for you?"

"Yeah," Bucky says. "A lot of the time, that's what it feels like. Like we're all alive, but we're not really. Walking on eggshells so the guards don't shoot us. Walking on eggshells so we don't slug each other."

"I just–" Crank looks up. He stares at the shelf across the way. "How do you feel like this and not bury yourself in the mud?" 

"I'd try," Bucky replies slowly, "but you'd dig me out."

Crank looks at him. Bucky's watching him with worried eyes, but his body's loose like he feels comfortable. "I'd dig you out," Crank agrees. 

"Buck–" Bucky presses his lips together. "No, that's not what I want to say." He thinks and sighs, shifts in the chair so he's leaned more towards Crank. "We have to get through this together, or we're all gonna die here," he says. "Or we have to escape."

"We're not gonna escape," Crank says, and he's surprised at the small smile that Bucky gives him. "What?" 

Bucky rubs his hand over his mouth. "Nothing," he says. 

"What?" Crank repeats. He leans towards Bucky. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I've mentioned escape to a few of the other fellas, and they all want to explain why we won't make it. Want to convince me to give up the idea of getting out of here. Not you, though. You just refuse to play along."

"Is that what you want?" Crank asks. "You want me to play along and argue with you?"

"No," Bucky says. "I don't want the other boys to do it, either. I want them to listen and think because if they're arguing with me, it means they're thinking about it, too. But they won't say it out loud. You just won't say anything at all." 

"I think about it," Crank admits. "I think about it plenty. I don't talk about it because there's no good reason. There's no hole in the fence. We've got nothing to bribe guards with. Even if we get out, it'll be months of hiding and running to get anywhere we won't be shot on sight. It's too improbable to be really possible. I'd rather focus on what I can do than imagine what I can't."

Bucky makes a considering sound. They don't talk after that, but when Crank stands up to go back to the bunkroom, he feels better. 

He and Brady shake hands and apologize and it's all fine again. As fine as it can be, anyway. The rain lasts two more days, but everyone tries extra-hard to be a little kinder, and there's no more scuffles. 

Crank and Bucky sit alone in the library together some. They read or they put on a record or they just sit. On the first day with no rain, Bucky reaches out and touches Crank's hand, then points towards the window. 

"Blue," he says. 

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Masters of the Air (TV 2024) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Charles "Crank" Cruikshank/John Clarence "Bucky" Egan Characters: Charles "Crank" Cruikshank, John Clarence "Bucky" Egan, Gale "Buck" Cleven Additional Tags: slowburn, Get Together, Emotional support ginger, Friends to Lovers, Canon-Typical Mental Health Issues, various other boys in support roles, there is no romantic yearning between the bucks in this fic not even one-sided, please find those fics elsewhere, no baseball scene or stump fight because bucky doesn't go that far down, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary:

Crank sees Bucky more clearly than Buck. A rule-bender and breaker like John needs room to be a little crazy, even in the Stalag. So, Crank steps up.

(AKA I honestly think one person letting Bucky say whatever wild shit he wanted without judgement and one person writing him letters could have done him a world of good.)